Deputy Manager (Hospice at Home Service)

Job responsibilities

Role Purpose:

Reporting to the Inpatient Unit Manager, the post holder will have responsibility for the day-to-day management and coordination of the Myton at Home service, to ensure the delivery and an efficient and effective service under the direction of the inpatient unit manager. This includes the line management of Registered Nurses and Nursing Assistants.

The role will provide visible clinical leadership ensuring an evidence-based approach is promoted at all times to the delivery of palliative and end of life care practice within the context of a community service. Overseeing, the planning, delivery and evaluation of a high-quality service for patients and their families.

The deputy manager will ensure there is close communication across the teams (Myton at Home and the Inpatient Unit) providing the coordination and cohesion across the community and inpatient setting.

To work closely with the Inpatient unit manager to provide safe and efficient running of the day-to-day operations.

To contribute to the delivery of an efficient 24 hour/7-day service.

The post holder will promote a learning environment for students/junior staff, where the palliative care approach can flourish, and will be the lead facilitator for educational placements and activities within the service.

The Myton at Home team and the Warwick Inpatient will work closely together and provide cross cover for both the teams and in relation to this deputy post.

Leadership, Management & Clinical Practice Responsibilities:

1. Exercise strong, effective leadership skills and establish excellent communication with all professionals, patients, relatives and all disciplines within the wider multi-disciplinary team.
2. Manage and triage the service caseload, ensuring that the highest standards of holistic care are provided.
3. Maintaining responsiveness to assessment of new referrals and the changing needs of existing patients.
4. Provide leadership that recognises patients, families and carers as partners in the care team, promoting a person-centred approach and working collaboratively with all care providers.
5. Act as a positive role model for others to aspire to, leading by example.
6. Promote and lead a culture of support with daily debrief, facilitate regular 1:1 and group reflective practice to support the professional and personal wellbeing and development of the team.
7. Lead and facilitate others to be proactive in preparing and presenting clinical information for community MDTs, acting as an equal member.
8. Co-ordinate team off duty, ensuring staffing levels and skill mix are appropriate and meet the needs of the patients; escalating concerns to the Ward Manager.
9. Ensure effective and efficient use of resources in conjunction with the Ward Manager to meet budgetary requirements exercising care and economy. Through effective leadership, ensuring time resources and staff are utilised and developed to their best potential.
10. Work with the Ward Manager in regard to recruitment, selection, management and performance issues of nursing staff for Hospice at Home.
11. Participate in budget setting and business planning as required within the Hospice.
12. To respond to any concerns and/or complaints from patients, families or professionals, ensuring the complaints procedure is followed.
13. Report data and follow up concerns raised from bereavement surveys.
14. Participate in the out of hours senior nurse on-call rota.

Quality, Safety & Governance Responsibilities

1. Undertake joint patient and carer assessments as necessary; working collaboratively with other care providers.
2. Utilise a range of communication skills that enable and facilitate active patient participation in their treatment programme; working openly, honestly and sensitively respecting their dignity, wishes and beliefs throughout all interventions.
3. Undertake Single Nurse Drug Administration, ensuring that community and hospice policies and procedures are adhered to in keeping with safe medicines management and practice.
4. Use evidence-based practice, alongside own expert knowledge, skills and experience to empower patients to realise and maintain their potential.
5. Where requested undertake bereavement follow up visits, referring on where appropriate.
6. Ensure that the team work in partnership with other care providers internally and externally to ensure that all information pertaining to the patients condition and care needs are communicated effectively and efficiently.
7. Uphold and ensure compliance with the organisations policies and procedures.
8. Ensuring all staff are clear in relation to their roles and responsibilities for Risk Management, Health and Safety, Infection prevention and control, Safeguarding Adults & Children, Data protection and other relevant policies.
9. Ensure all staff are familiar with and adhere to the Hospice lone working policy; be clear with all staff in relation to their personal responsibility to follow the process for communicating with senior on call nurse in relation to their location and the utilisation of the team mobile phones and Solo Protect devices.
10. In collaboration with the Quality and Clinical Governance Lead; participate in local audit, disseminate outcomes and ensure that any improvements are undertaken.
11. Ensure that documentation is completed accurately and legibly in accordance with the organisations information governance guidance and confidentiality is maintained using Caldicott Guidelines.
12. Create and maintain a culture where the reporting of concerns, incidents and complaints are encouraged and documented promptly. Ensuring that clinical adverse events, incidents and complaints are fully investigated and shared learning is undertaken.

Strategy and Service Improvement Responsibilities

1. In collaboration with the Ward Manager, contribute to the strategic direction and development of the Hospice, and community services.
2. Work in partnership with other providers and key stakeholders to explore areas of unmet need in order to initiate new/improved ways of working.
3. Ensure that quality monitoring processes are in place to access feedback and collate data continually to inform service reviews and improvement plans.

Training & Education Responsibilities

1. Promote and maintain a culture of evidence based clinical practice ensuring the creation of effective local networks to share good practice and dissemination.
2. Practice an approach that facilitates and fosters learning for carers and professionals, (students, junior staff and those on placement to Myton). Sharing expertise appropriately and supporting each learner to achieve their learning needs.
3. With the support of the Clinical Education team, assess and monitor the competence and confidence of team members around all aspects of clinical practice, identifying learning needs; supporting and supervising the development of knowledge, skills and confidence.
4. Ensure all team members receive an annual appraisal and review and provide an agreed personal development plan as part of the appraisal process to support their own professional development.
5. Be responsible for own continued professional development maintaining up to date evidence-based knowledge including an awareness of the national and local influences affecting palliative and end of life care.
6. Ensure own compliance with mandatory training and professional development requirements, maintaining records of training and development undertaken for self in preparation for NMC/HCPC revalidation.

Skills and Attributes

Essential

• Clinically orientated in order to inspire, lead, develop and support the nursing team
• Extensive knowledge of palliative care symptoms and required management.
• Excellent interpersonal and organisational skills including sound verbal and written communication skills with the ability to communicate complex and sensitive information.
• Ability to manage potentially distressing and hostile situations.
• Ability to support and develop the teams clinical competencies in respect of complex palliative symptom care
• Identify, assess and minimise risks in relation to patient care or staff.
• Able to facilitate and lead a team and to act as a positive role model
• Working knowledge of how to manage and foster professional and personal development
• Strong negotiation and diplomacy skills
• A passion for putting patient experience at the forefront
• Enthusiastic and motivated
• Able to respond flexibly to changing needs and priorities
• Empowering leadership and supervision style
• Professional, pleasant and friendly demeanour
• Approachable, confident and compassionate.
• Willing to take on new responsibilities and respond positively to change

Desirable

• Knowledge of local and national end of life care strategies
• IT skills

Other

Essential

• Able to travel between sites.
• Hold current UK Driving Licence
• The right to work in the UK (we cannot provide sponsorship)

Qualifications

Essential

• 1st Level RGN with current NMC registration
• Nurse qualification at Diploma / Degree level
• Assessing, Mentoring / Teaching qualification
• Evidence of ongoing professional development relevant to the field of Palliative Care, Long term conditions or chronic illness management

Desirable

• Post registration qualification in Palliative care
• Management / Leadership training

Experience

Essential

• Significant post registration experience in a similar setting with line management responsibility.
• Experience in managing palliative care patients in crisis and end of life.
• Experience in leading and supervising a team.
• Ability to manage delegated budget responsibility
• Appraisal completion and staff performance management
• Experience in leading and participating in multi professional team working
• Research, audit and clinical governance awareness
• Experience of participating in audits and staff development
• Awareness of and the need for professional supervision to be open to constructive challenges

Desirable

• Experience of community working
• Experience in receiving and providing clinical supervision
• Experience of complaint investigation and management

Disclosure and Barring Service Check

This post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act (Exceptions Order) 1975 and as such it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service (formerly known as CRB) to check for any previous criminal convictions.

UK Registration

Applicants must have current UK professional registration. For further information please see NHS Careers website (opens in a new window).